Kalidou Koulibaly

Gabriel said:
New and shining means less whining.

My only fear for Koulibaly is the unrealistic weight of expectation that will be placed on him by our support. Doesn’t feature immediately: why is our most expensive signing not starting? Makes a mistake: why did we buy him and not X or Y? He picks up an injury: Why did we sign someone ‘so old’? A read through of the pages on this thread reveals a large number of ‘told you so’ comments in waiting. Not a criticism, we’re all entitled to our opinions, but we should all recognize that our prejudices and fears don’t evaporate the moment a player pulls on our club’s jersey. Took Mahrez nearly an entire season to be accepted by most, but Koulibaly looks like he is going to have an even harder job already.
And he hasn’t even signed. :-)
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Sadly that's fanbases for you. I get the feeling that if Torres and Ake don't play well they will get a free pass and the inevitable "he needs time to settle in". Koulibaly won't get the same time. Even one bad game will lead to a mass social media gathering of City fans calling for his head.

Never really got the Mahrez criticism. The man is a fantastic player. Easily one of the most skilful players in World Football.
 
Gabriel said:
New and shining means less whining.

My only fear for Koulibaly is the unrealistic weight of expectation that will be placed on him by our support. Doesn’t feature immediately: why is our most expensive signing not starting? Makes a mistake: why did we buy him and not X or Y? He picks up an injury: Why did we sign someone ‘so old’? A read through of the pages on this thread reveals a large number of ‘told you so’ comments in waiting. Not a criticism, we’re all entitled to our opinions, but we should all recognize that our prejudices and fears don’t evaporate the moment a player pulls on our club’s jersey. Took Mahrez nearly an entire season to be accepted by most, but Koulibaly looks like he is going to have an even harder job already.
And he hasn’t even signed. :-)
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Standard on here:)
 
skyblues said:
The irony here is we are screaming for Upamecano or world-class Koulibaly to join the club to partner Laporte, yet everyone is forgetting about newly signed Aké.
Aké never had alcohol in his whole life and his only focus has been to develop his game as a defender. Aké could in fact turn out world-class as he joins a top club for the first time in his career.

A very interesting read comparing him to the worlds best:

allthingschelsea.blog

Why Nathan Aké Is One Of The Most Underrated Central-Defenders Out There

In this article I will be comparing Nathan Aké with some of the best center-backs in world football and then see how he compares to our current options at the back. There will be a lot of statistic…
allthingschelsea.blog

A bit off the topic, but still!
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A little disrespectful to Chelsea there I see :)
 
skyblues said:
The irony here is we are screaming for Upamecano or world-class Koulibaly to join the club to partner Laporte, yet everyone is forgetting about newly signed Aké.
Aké never had alcohol in his whole life and his only focus has been to develop his game as a defender. Aké could in fact turn out world-class as he joins a top club for the first time in his career.

A very interesting read comparing him to the worlds best:

allthingschelsea.blog

Why Nathan Aké Is One Of The Most Underrated Central-Defenders Out There

In this article I will be comparing Nathan Aké with some of the best center-backs in world football and then see how he compares to our current options at the back. There will be a lot of statistic…
allthingschelsea.blog

A bit off the topic, but still!
Click to expand...

An interesting read. I'm already converted but it serves to reinforce my opinion, thanks.
 
JoshH7611 said:
Sadly that's fanbases for you. I get the feeling that if Torres and Ake don't play well they will get a free pass and the inevitable "he needs time to settle in". Koulibaly won't get the same time. Even one bad game will lead to a mass social media gathering of City fans calling for his head.

Never really got the Mahrez criticism. The man is a fantastic player. Easily one of the most skilful players in World Football.
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Being a fantastic player is not enough, never has been and never will be. That's why we love football because the biggest and best on paper can get turned over and fucked by the smallest and worst teams on any given day (within reason).

Hence why City are at our very best when we're humble and working like a "small team" in Peps' words. It's not always about having the best players possible, it's about having the best team possible.
 
skyblues said:
The irony here is we are screaming for Upamecano or world-class Koulibaly to join the club to partner Laporte, yet everyone is forgetting about newly signed Aké.
Aké never had alcohol in his whole life and his only focus has been to develop his game as a defender. Aké could in fact turn out world-class as he joins a top club for the first time in his career.

A very interesting read comparing him to the worlds best:

allthingschelsea.blog

Why Nathan Aké Is One Of The Most Underrated Central-Defenders Out There

In this article I will be comparing Nathan Aké with some of the best center-backs in world football and then see how he compares to our current options at the back. There will be a lot of statistic…
allthingschelsea.blog

A bit off the topic, but still!
Click to expand...
That is my position on both Ake and Koulibaly for a while, hence why I'm so reluctant for us to pay the money Napoli are currently demanding for KK.
 
Gabriel said:
That’s why it is important to make a deal with them that is satisfactory for both clubs. We’ve been interested in Cavani, Jorginho, and Koulibaly, and we’d probably have been interested in Ghoulam, too, had injury not been so cruel, so we evidently like what they produce.

Importantly, Napoli are changing direction and are now intent on making themselves the equivalent of Dortmund in Serie A; they recognize they cannot compete financially with Juventus and Internazionale, and the Rome teams also have a march on Napoli as well. That is why you can expect them to sign lots of young players in future windows, but with an eye to developing them and selling them much earlier, oh yes, and at top dollar. They recognize that they should have sold Koulibaly last season but failed to see their cycle had run full circle, which is why they need to sell him for so much less.

If we screw them in this deal, it might give us a slight taste of revenge, but it might not be to our advantage when we fancy their players in the future.
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Laporte and VVD cost less, are just as good and were younger in a pre Covid economy- €90m is an outrageous sum
 
ctid1894 said:
That is my position on both Ake and Koulibaly for a while, hence why I'm so reluctant for us to pay the money Napoli are currently demanding for KK.
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We've already got Ake though. Koulibaly, or whoever, would be an extra option.

It wouldn't surprise me if Ake ended up our best defender, but nor would it surprise me if he & Koulibaly ended up our best partnership
 
skyblues said:
The irony here is we are screaming for Upamecano or world-class Koulibaly to join the club to partner Laporte, yet everyone is forgetting about newly signed Aké.
Aké never had alcohol in his whole life and his only focus has been to develop his game as a defender. Aké could in fact turn out world-class as he joins a top club for the first time in his career.

A very interesting read comparing him to the worlds best:

allthingschelsea.blog

Why Nathan Aké Is One Of The Most Underrated Central-Defenders Out There

In this article I will be comparing Nathan Aké with some of the best center-backs in world football and then see how he compares to our current options at the back. There will be a lot of statistic…
allthingschelsea.blog

A bit off the topic, but still!
Click to expand...
He is left footed,we need a right footer to go with eric
 
Neville Kneville said:
We've already got Ake though. Koulibaly, or whoever, would be an extra option.

It wouldn't surprise me if Ake ended up our best defender, but nor would it surprise me if he & Koulibaly ended up our best partnership
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I meant in terms of quality and summarisation as a player. Ake for me could be anything, the positives and further potential make him as close to a perfect signing as you can get.

Koulibaly for me, I'm unconvinced let's say. He's clearly good, very good, but I don't think he comes close to the superhero rhetoric banded about on here. The interpretation of the stats in that article match what I see watching games, he's reactive, not proactive. Kyle Walker at CB, without the ridiculous speed, not that that's a bad thing btw.
 
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